Hasbro Gains Despite Sales Drop

Things were not great for toy maker Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) over the holidays. Shares of the toy juggernaut found new strength mid-morning Wednesday after the company said sales of "Star Wars" and "Frozen" toys lagged during the fourth quarter.

"Overall consumer demand slowed in November and December both for the industry and for Hasbro," CEO Brian Goldner said in a statement. "A decline in Partner Brands and Europe revenues resulted in us not meeting our fourth quarter revenue expectations."

Hasbro gaming, which includes a variety of board games and digital gaming, fell 4% in the quarter and emerging brands, which includes Baby Alive and Furreal Friends toys, fell 5%.

Franchise brands, like Nerf, Monopoly and My Little Pony performed well for the company, rising 11% in the quarter.

Hasbro said it posted a net loss of $5.3 million, or four cents per share, down from a net profit of $192.7 million, or $1.52 per share, a year ago. Revenue in the quarter fell 2% to $1.6 billion and fell short of expectations of $1.72 billion.

Hasbro relies heavily on Toys R Us to sell its toys to consumers. In 2016, the toy retailer was tied with Target (NYSE: TGT) as the second-largest seller of Hasbro goods, accounting for 14% of Hasbro's sales in the U.S. and Canada.